(Chef José Garces in his new Amada restaurant, at the Revel resort in Atlantic City. Credit: Hadas Kuznits)

By Hadas Kuznits

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) — “Iron chef” José Garces opens three restaurants this month at the new Revel Resort and Casino, in Atlantic City, NJ. His main one, Amada, has been in the works since 2007.

“And this has all been in the making since then, so it’s a pretty significant day to be standing here in my restaurant overlooking the ocean,” Garces (in top photo) said this week at the new Amada.

Garces, who now owns 15 restaurants, was asked to open a restaurant at Revel back when he owned just one — in Philadelphia.

“Yeah, this was on the cusp of really having a great first restaurant, which was Amada. I mean, we had a lot of folks that liked what we were doing, Revel took notice. And this was pre any Iron Chef, James Beard awards, et cetera. They had already believed in me back then.”

A lot can happen in five years!

Hear Hadas Kuznits’ full interview with José Garces in this CBS Philly podcast…

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Garces also opened a Guapos Tacos truck and Distrito Cantina on the Revel casino floor. Assistant general manager Danielle DeFalco says they’ve had to explain the concept:

“People are used to coming in and getting seated by a host and having menus brought to them. It’s a more relaxed, fun atmosphere — and the menu is in Spanish, too, so that’s a little difficult for people as well.”

(Assistant general manager Danielle DeFalco stands in front of Distrito Cantina and the Guapos Tacos truck, at the Revel casino-resort. Credit: Hadas Kuznits)

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Hear Hadas Kuznits’ full interview with Danielle DeFalco in this CBS Philly podcast…

Hadas Kuznits has been as a news writer/reporter for KYW Newsradio since September 2002, and has traveled the city — and the world — while covering stories for Newsradio.
She is also the host of KYW's series "What's Cooking on 1060!" -- covering...